Greetings from Colleen O’Brien. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing in the mid 1970s. I was fortunate to get a job at Meriter Hospital right after graduation. At Meriter I shopped around until I found “my” place in Emergency Services. After a number of years in the ER, I was appointed head nurse. I immediately noticed something wrong! Women who were sexually assaulted were being examined by male doctors who were not comfortable doing the exams. This gave me the idea to start the “SANE” program, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. I found two other nurses in the country with the same idea. We formed three SANE programs, mine in Madison WI, Linda LeDray St Paul, MN, and Pat Speck in Memphis, TN. I went back to school for a master’s degree in Forensic Medicine in 1986 at the UW. From then I practiced SANE at Meriter and taught SANE programs throughout the United States. For many years SANE programs and Forensic Nursing interest grew quickly. As time progressed, my interest in Pediatric Forensic Care of children took over. My focus in this field led me to becoming an expert witness in cases in Wisconsin and beyond. I am very proud and happy that SANE and Forensic Nursing have become international programs. Life was not all work though. I traveled in Europe, Russia and other far away places. I even got married for a time, but it didn’t work out well. Then in 1980 I met a country man who worked as a research specialist at the University Hospital. In 1983 we were married, and Richard convinced me to move to his place in Ridgeway Township, Iowa County, WI. Hibbs and I traveled together, mostly in Mexico and Costa Rica. I became an Iowa County master gardener. My schnauzer, Shadow, and I hiked the Syttende Mai for years. Some weekends I would do a 100 mile bike ride, for fun. For more than 30 years we rehabbed birds of prey and other wildlife at our Raptor Ridge home. Long walks with our dogs in our woods and our prairie were a Life of Dreams. When the Wisconsin River called, we and our kayaks were there. Then in 2009 my heart gave up and I had to slow down. Hibbs and I remained together until my passing in April 2026. We were married for 43 year!
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